The Winged Fox
by WolfBurger
Summary: Two years after a heartbreaking farewell at the end of the Anglar Blitz, 32 year old Fox McCloud struggles to find out what's really going on between himself, Falco Lombardi and the Star Fox team.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note:** This is but a verbalization of my burning yet inexplicable love for Star Fox and its amazing characters. This isn't close to a screaming fangirl's kind of fanfiction, though; but a serious attempt to write a good, well-developed story about these characters I familiarize with so much. Now, for reasons everyone knows, I must make clear that _Star Fox, and all the terms and characters related to it, belong to their creator Shigeru Miyamoto, and Nintendo._ Be aware of the meaning of "fan fiction" if you're willing to criticize my work in certain ways.

I must add that this story takes place after one of Star Fox Command's nine endings; you'll find which one it is throughout the story.

 **The Winged Fox**

Chapter One: Confused

Not so far from the orbit of Corneria, a spectacle of flickering, constantly moving bright lights could easily be mistaken by the start of a new war, but the series of violent maneuvers and brutal explosions belonged to nothing but a small battle between the Star Fox team and a small group of mercenaries from Fichina, sent after a Cornerian commander who was just about to open an investigation in their planet.

"Do a barrel roll!" said Peppy through the team's communications line, from inside the Great Fox.

"Gee, Peppy, I know. You won't quit even after retirement, will ya?" replied Fox with a playful tone in his voice, with the battle right in front of him serving as no purpose of intimidation.

"We're almost done here, Fox…" added Falco, trying to settle a more serious tone in the environment, "...I can see their leader's ship is badly damaged. If we manage to take him out, the battle's over. Even if his _friends_ don't surrender," he said, clenching his hands on the yoke, physically implying he'd take out everyone else as well.

The three Arwings zipped through the air, performing multiple crazy stunts as the enemies struggled to deliver a single hit. With their leader blown to pieces minutes after being mentioned by Falco, the two remaining bogeys retreated in fear. "You did it, Fox!" exclaims Slippy.

"No, Slippy. _We all_ did it," replied his vulpine leader, commemorating the small victory, as they all returned to the Great Fox, which was just far enough to avoid getting hit.

In the small hangar inside the big ship, Peppy awaited with a shy smile on his face. The pilots left and inspected their own aircrafts. "I think my left wing got shot," said Slippy, rolling his eyes and scratching his head as he looked at the small, deformed hole on the edge of the wing, "nothing too serious, but I'm surprised I didn't notice it," he adds.

"I guess that happened when the enemies arrived. They were pretty sneaky, at least from what I've seen…" Fox suggested, stepping forward towards the amphibian. "Nothing you can't fix, right?"

"Slippy, you're an Arwing engineer, for fuck's sake!" berated Falco, looking away, with a rather cruel tone to his voice, "if you have so much trouble flying, you could-" he continued, interrupted by a slow tap on his shoulder.

"Falco, he knows his duty," intervened Fox. "I'm sure he's tired because of that fight; he doesn't need to hear this," he continued, frowning at his blue-feathered wingman.

A moment of silence suddenly hit the hangar, being broken shortly after by Peppy, finally tired of all the conflicts that had been constantly going on in the Star Fox team in the past few months. He then suggested that both Fox and Falco headed to the TV room and played some games to forget all the stress.

As they walked towards said room, Falco didn't let out a word in response to what just happened; instead, he looked down, striding down the corridor with his hands stuffing his jacket's pockets, as Fox looked at him both worried and slightly angry. Moments before even being able to see the door to the room they were going to, Fox pulled Falco by the arm and ran into his room, shutting the door shortly after.

"Falco, what the hell was that!?" Fox's tone rose firmly, but not enough to make him sound like a leader. Instead, he looked at Falco as a concerned friend. "We're all aware that Slip sucks at flying, but he's by far the best engineer we know. We also know he gets emotional really easily, and if we lose him, we're fucked. And I don't wanna say it's your fault if we do."

"Oh, yeah, because the best mercenary team in the Lylat system totally deserves that title when one of its integrants is a complete idiot who can't pilot his own Arwing," he commented, in disgust.

"Dude, it was just one hit. Anyone here could've taken it. He's done worse before, so what's the reason you got so angry?" demanded Fox.

"Fox…" Falco sighed, lowering his voice and turning his eyes to the window, "look, I'm sorry. Okay? Maybe I shouldn't unload my anger on him. I just wonder if you know why I'm actually upset."

"To be honest…" knowing a huge discussion was probably about to happen, Fox backed away and sat on the edge of his bed, looking up, bemused, at his wingman's tired eyes, "...I don't."

Falco took a deep breath and stepped closer to his leader. "You know I love you, Fox… you know how much that's true, too. And… I don't know how to explain this, but this… _thing_ that's been going on between us feels kind of empty… or stupid, I don't know. It's like I'm lost into your thoughts and I just don't know what's going on anymore."

Fox reacted normally, briefly recalling the extremely awkward, yet enchanting moment in which he and Falco officially took a step into the next level. Instead of replying, Fox nodded, letting his eyes say go on.

"Look, I don't mean to be some kind of overly dramatic _boyfriend_ , or whatever it is that we're supposed to call ourselves, but I feel like a placeholder. Someone that's there to fill the void left by Krystal," explained Falco, trying to hide his sadness and confusion with mild anger and discontentment.

"Falco, what are you even trying to-"

"Since she joined Wolf's team with that Caroso guy, you've been acting so desperate and dramatic about things," he interrupted. "Don't pretend it's not true. I wouldn't have thought you'd ever feel love for me if Krystal never existed. At least that's what I suppose, considering what I know from you."

"Bullshit," said Fox, "don't even pretend that's true. If anything between Krystal and I had been completely true, she wouldn't have left me. I never knew what happened. Sure, see it from another angle, assume I'm using you to replace her if you want; but I think that seeing her leave made me realize how stupid I was. I've had eyes for you before I even met her, I just didn't know it was mutual."

"...and you found out just because she left," said Falco, a tad ironically.

"You make it sound like it's so terrible..." Fox sighed, elaborating his thoughts, "...yeah, I found out because the impact she left by joining Star Wolf and leaving me alone all of a sudden was absolutely terrifying. But although my love for her was flawed and untrue, she made me realize how much I need someone else. Just… just look at me!" Fox rose his voice at Falco, standing up from his bed and pointing at himself. "I'm a mercenary who's saved the whole Lylat system more than once. And you know how much stress that implies. Hell, you've been with me most of the time," he sat down again, putting his elbows on his thighs and covering his eyes with his paws, starting to tear up. "I guess falling for Krystal was easy because you simply decided to go missing as I had to go alone on that Sauria mission. I think I really thought you were gone…"

Falco just stood there, quietly, staring at his beloved fox getting in a serious conflict with his own emotions. "You really think I was gone for real? Just like that!?"

"It's hard to figure you out, Falco. It's always been," Fox said, wiping away the small tears near his eyes.

Silence took over, as both realized how loud they were talking to each other. During a relatively long pause, Falco decided to sit by Fox's side on his the edge of the bed, without touching him.

"I'm sorry, Falco."

"I… yeah, I guess you should be," the avian looked away, trying not to lose his pride.

"Falco, I…"

"I don't think you're lying about this, Fox," Falco interrupted, "It's just that… it's hard to figure you out as well. Even if what you're saying is true, you haven't really done anything much to prove that something's _actually_ going on. I've never felt that between us. Not for real," he hesitated, "...what I know is that I really like you, dude."

"Well…" Fox reached for the avian's long blue hand that was resting onto the bed sheets, "...I guess this lack of courage could be because I didn't know you were this much into me, hehe…"

"It really did take you a while..." Falco smirked at Fox and both went silent, looking deep in each other's eyes, trying to understand what they really felt for each other.

That moment of soothing silence was unexpectedly broken by a loud emergency alarm. Aware of the regulations, the vulpine and the avian rushed to the Great Fox's cockpit, immediately snatching their safety helmets.

"We're under attack!" warned Peppy, terrified "I think that group we defeated wasn't alone after all!"

"Yeah, no shit!" said Falco.

"Star Fox team!" Fox wiped away the storm of mixed feelings from five minutes before, clearing his mind and changing his voice to the tone of true determination, now gathering the group's attention. "In your positions, now! There's no time to reach the Arwings, so we'll have to deal with the attackers using the Great Fox's defense mechanisms!"

"Understood!" yelled Peppy, jumping onto his seat and strapping the emergency apparatus.

"Roger!" said Slippy, following the hare's actions.

Falco, however, stood still for a moment, looking directly at Fox's eyes, as if the alarm and the imminent death threat meant nothing compared to what he had to deal regarding the fox sitting right in front of him.

"...Falco? Falco, what are you waiting for!?" barked Fox, pulling the bird out of that sudden daze, as he felt the ship shake with all the laser beams coming from all directions. "This is an emergency situation! Get in position! _Now!_ "

"Fox…" Falco opened his beak to say what Fox presumed to be something stubborn, when a missile shattered the cockpit's windshield, sucking out everything that wasn't safely attached to the ground. Falco included.

Fox tried yelling his name in absolute terror, but the sound had just been sucked out along with his wingman. He had only caught the glimpse of Falco being violently pulled out of the cockpit and into open space, noticing his terrified expression as he disappeared. Seconds later, the Great Fox's emergency shutters covered the broken windows, replacing the natural view with a video feed from outside, as oxygen was pumped back into the room. McCloud could only identify a medium-sized ship speeding away.

Looking down, shocked, he clenched his fists and punched the armrest of his own seat in pure, boiling anger. _He's… he's probably-_

"Fox, they're escaping!" exclaimed Peppy, interrupting Fox's own thoughts.

"Then what are you waiting for!?" barked Fox, with all the anger he could possibly feel, "go after them! _Immediately!_ "

"Roger that…" said the terrified old hare.

Fox turned his eyes to Slippy. "Put this thing in full throttle!" he commanded.

"Yes, sir!"

End of Chapter One


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: Snow

The critically damaged Great Fox had its thrusters almost overheating as the ship zipped through space at full speed. Despite the low temperature inside the cockpit, Fox's fur was soaked in sweat, as fear and stress held his mind hostage. Losing track of the enemy ship, he asked Peppy to run a long-range scan. The radars managed to find a weak signal, which was just enough to know where the enemy was headed.

"I think they're going to Fichina, Fox," concluded Peppy, scratching his head, "so I'm pretty sure we're gonna end up near their base. It appears that they _were_ trying to lure us, after all."

"It's not like we have a choice. I'm not sure we have time or even enough signal to call Bill to send backup, and that's if he's willing to do so," said Fox after a long sigh, realizing they had very little choice. The idea was to take revenge on whoever sent the attack, and try to stop anything that could mean a threat to Corneria.

Still tracking the enemy, the Great Fox reached Fichina's frigid atmosphere in a matter of hours, descending onto a deserted area in which the radar's signal pulsated strongly. Afraid of any further damage on the Great Fox, the ship landed about one kilometer away from the enemy's location. With the engines now off, the only sound Fox could hear came from the thrusters, that were cooling down after that relatively long trip; aside of that, there was only silence. No one knew what to do next. It could very much be an ambush, but what if the enemy ship's pilot thought the Star Fox team lost track of them? Maybe they were too afraid to lure them in, noticing how quick Fox, Falco and Slippy managed to take out an entire squadron of their allies. But what if they were still on it? What if they're just expecting a bunch of Arwings shooting directly at the base? These questions surrounded anything else that could be going on in Fox's head, as Peppy and Slippy started, in vain, to make up a plan.

"I'm going in on my own," announced Fox, calmly standing up from his chair and removing his helmet. Both Peppy and Slippy looked terrified at the fox, who had just suggested stepping into a suicide mission.

"...in the Landmaster, right?" Said Slippy, attempting to make the decision sound less stupid.

"Nope," said Fox, "I'm going on foot, armed with my blaster. I'll talk to you guys on my way if I need anything."

Peppy punched the armrest of his chair and jumped out if it, piercing Fox's eyes with a furious expression. "Are you insane!? Did you not realize the damage those guys caused to the Great Fox?" He berated Fox, with his angry red eyes almost making him feel guilty.

"Fox…" Slippy looked at him, taking out his hat and holding it tight with both hands, with extremely worried eyes, "...I don't think you'll make it. Are you sure?"

"Listen. They're probably expecting us to attack them directly with the Arwings, or any kind of vehicle we have with us, really. You guys know I've infiltrated enemy bases before with success. And I know how to make my way with a blaster," he said with a fake smile, trying to make it look like he's thinking straight, "again, if I need anything, I'll call you."

The fox descended from his mother ship onto the freezing surface of Fichina, wearing a thick silver jacket and his signature red scarf. Holding his weapon firmly, equipped with his trusty heads-up display attached to his right eye, he followed the enemy's signal on foot. The soft yet cold wind tousled his head fur as he walked, and the white snow was painted orange by Solar's twilight glare. The only sounds surrounding him were those of the wind and his very own steps, each digging a small hole into the snow.

 _It's too quiet,_ Fox thought to himself, _they must really have thought we lost them._

After walking for a few more minutes, the radar on Fox's HUD beeped repeatedly, implying he was standing on top of the enemy ship. "Peppy, what was the last time we checked our headgear?" he asked, holding a button on the single earbud attached to the display.

"Not long ago. I'm pretty sure it's working well. Why do you ask?" replied Peppy.

"There's something's wrong. Here it says I'm really close to the enemy, but... there's nothing here. I'm only seeing a bunch of ice and snow. And I'm freezing down here," he said, with his exposed fur naturally puffed up, trying to make the cold more bearable, "can you run another scan of the area with the Great Fox's sensors?"

As Peppy started calibrating the area scanners to restart the radar, the snow beneath Fox's paws started to tremble uniformly, as a square-shaped metal structure slowly emerged from the ground. He stepped back, holding his weapon as steadily as he could against the newly revealed building, observing as a hatch opened from one of its walls. From it, came out a small squadron consisting of four monkeys and three lizards, all armed, as if they all expected Fox to come specifically on foot.

"Ha, if it isn't the spoiled fox boy. You and your shitty little team aren't the only smart ones in the Lylat system, you know," said the monkey who appeared to be the squadron's leader, pointing his gun at Fox as he walked slowly towards him, "thanks for making things easy for us."

"But who are you, assholes?" asked Fox, blatantly, albeit his hands were shaking from both cold and fear, "and what makes you think you can just go ahead and attack us?"

The ape took a short step forward and removed his sunglasses. "We're the Neo-Androssians. We're here to rebuild the great empire that you and your stinkin' Cornerian friends destroyed! And you, _the legendary Fox McCloud_ , are apparently nothing else than a defenseless chickenshit right now."

 _Shit_ , thought the now terrified fox, still holding his weapon as his heart started to beat increasingly faster, _I should've known they weren't just a minor threat… but this?_

When the leader stepped closer to Fox, he desperately pulled the trigger, only to see the shot hit one of the other soldiers in the arm. "Oh, you little…" said the victim's amphibian comrade, pointing his gun at Fox.

"No, you brainless idiot!" barked the leader, putting his arm between the threatening soldier and McCloud. "We need him alive," he says, shooting Fox in the chest with an electric charge from a specific weapon of his, making him fall on his face, unconscious, into the snow.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: Darkness

Muffled sounds of people talking and the faint feeling of a cold floor were all that Fox McCloud could process. There was no way to tell who or how far those people were, nor to know how much time had passed. He could, however, think clearly enough to regret his previous, unprofessional move.

All those years of training at the Cornerian Army and the Corneria Flight Academy specifically taught him not to shoot at that moment. The shooting trainings, the anger management and self-control lectures that popped up from time to time, hell, even Fox's personality made it clear when it was and wasn't safe to shoot. Seeing his best friend and lover disappear right before his eyes was of greater impact than any general slapping his face for a mistake.

As Fox's sight started coming back, only allowing him to see blurred dark figures, he heard two gunshots followed by two heavy thuds. Moments later, the sound of a rusty metal door being dramatically kicked in startled him; but before he could react, someone lifted his body, placing it on their shoulder.

"Come on, you lazy dog. Wake up! I already took you out of that cell, now start walking," said a rather familiar voice.

"Who… who are you…" said Fox, still incredibly groggy, as he was quickly carried around the halls of the enemy base.

"You can't seriously be this fucked up, can you? Gee, they gave you something. Hold on, I know where to take you."

A few minutes later, Fox was gently placed on a cold metal floor, just to be suddenly splashed with cold water. "Ow, what the hell!?" yelled Fox at his savior, realizing he was in a dimly lit janitor's closet. The water dripped from his wet fur as Fox shivered and gradually regained consciousness.

"Shit. Hold on, let me get you a towel…" said the mysterious figure.

As they kneeled to carefully rub his fur with an old towel, Fox started to recognize familiar traces from what the light coming from under the door could reveal. As if that wasn't enough, he also recognized the voice and smell of such person, but most of all, the feeling of their arm occasionally touching his.

"...Falco?" Fox tilted his head in confusion.

"...the one and only," replied the bird, in a playful manner.

"But… I thought you were-"

"Dead?" Falco interrupted, "...haha, you silly fox. I guess you just don't know me well enough, do you?"

"But I saw you getting… you know, sucked out of the ship! How could you possibly be here? I mean, I'm glad and all, but-"

"Shh," he interrupted again, "they could hear us," he paused, putting the towel away. "I'll explain later, Fox. Now we gotta go."

As Falco attempted to put him back on his footpaws, Fox surprised him with a big, tight, warm embrace, immediately shedding tears onto the avian's shoulder.

"Great…" said Falco, playfully, "...now you're getting _me_ wet."

"Falco, I was so fucking scared," Fox whispered, nearly stammering, as Falco gladly returned the hug, understanding what he was truly feeling at that particular moment.

The hug lasted for a couple of minutes, when Falco finally started to give some attention to the moment's priority. He handed Fox his own blaster, which the guards had obviously apprehended, and carefully looked through an opening on the door to see if there were any guards nearby.

"It's clear. Think you can walk?" whispered Falco, readying his weapon.

"I don't think I can run," said Fox, wiping away his tears, "but I can walk just fine."

Falco discreetly opened the door and came out with Fox, both of them already checking for possible threats, firmly holding up their blasters.

"This way, Fox," said Falco, pointing him towards the security control room.

They passed through several different halls, feeling like rats in a maze, eventually having to strategically avoid a guard or two, until they arrived at the room Falco mentioned. It was located at the end of a single corridor, guarded by a big metal door with a digital security lock.

"Shit…" said Falco, who hadn't noticed that detail whilst on his way to find Fox, "...now what?"

"If it was a regular lock we could just shoot it open. And it looks like this door won't get any damage from the blasters," added Fox. "If only Slippy was here…"

"Halt!" yelled a security guard, surprising them both, having Falco immediately point his gun at him, "put your weapons on the ground and surrender, or else you _will_ be executed!"

Shit, thought Fox as he carefully followed the guard's orders.

"What are you doing?" whispered Falco. "We can handle this, Fox…"

"Do you wanna end up in that room like I did?" he replied, placing the blaster on the floor.

"Hey birdbrain, drop your weapon!" demanded the guard. "Now!"

 _Crap. I gotta find a way to stop him_ , thought Falco, slowly leaning forward to put the gun down as he observed the guard's each and every move. The ape held a fixed stare at him, steadily holding his weapon, until a beeping noise from his communicator caught his attention. The brief moment in which the guard leaned to look at the device attached to his belt was enough for Falco to quickly raise his gun and shoot his wrist, making him immediately release the weapon. In a matter of seconds, Falco ran straight to the wounded guard, kicking his weapon away and, in a swift movement, grabbing him by the neck and pointing the gun at his head. Fox, surprised, picked up his blaster and held it towards the other end of the corridor, intending to fence off any other guards that could show up.

" _Cadet Caesar, what's your status? Respond! Respond!_ " said a voice coming from the communicator.

"Well, cadet, I don't think he'll get that info if you don't tell us the code to that security room! Start talking," said Falco, pressing the end of his blaster against the guard's head.

"I… I don't know!" said the terrified ape.

Falco, impatient with the situation, grabbed the guard by his neck and slammed him against the wall, holding him up and pressing the blaster against his jaw. "Speak. Or else."

"I'm telling you, man!" he swore, coughing. "I'm just a cadet, and you know it! Only some people in higher positions can have the code!"

"Oh, you little..." said Falco, moving the blaster into the guard's mouth.

"Falco, just look at him. He's telling you the truth," intervenes Fox, taking a step closer to them and moving his eyes to the ape's communicator. "You. Can you request permission to have the code?"

"I… I think so, yes," the guard pressed a button on the device, staring straight at Falco's blaster. "H-hello, sergeant Grayson? I'd like to request the passcode to the security room. Over."

" _For what matter? Over._ " said the sergeant through the communicator.

"Uh… my squadron's leader was in a hurry and told me to go to the security room to, uh… check if he left his bag in the cafeteria. He said he had to meet with someone and the cafeteria is too far, so he told me to check here, and-"

" _Enough, cadet. The code is 24601. It'll be changed in ten minutes, so I hope you follow your orders quickly. Over and out,_ " replied the sergeant.

"Go ahead, Fox. You heard the code," said Falco, still firmly holding the guard against the wall.

"You'll let me go now… right?" asked the cadet. "Please, I'll pretend nothing happened. Just let me go."

"I'll look into that," said Falco, with a tad of sarcasm. "How's it going, Fox?"

McCloud walked towards the small touchscreen near the door, quickly typing the code. _**'24601. Passcode accepted. Open? [YES] [NO]'**_

"Hm…" Fox turned to Falco, hesitating to open the door. "The passcode is correct."

"Fine. You're free to go, but don't do anything stupid," Falco warned the guard as he slowly released him. "You're dealing with Star Fox."

The guard pretended to limp away from them and, as Falco started looking away, he pounced onto his gun attempting to grab it shoot them both, but his hand was greeted with the avian's boot.

"I told you," said Falco, delivering a shot through cadet Caesar's skull, watching as his brain painted the corridor's floor. "You're dealing with Star Fox."

"Okay, ready?" asked Fox as Falco approached the door, with his index finger hovering the 'YES' button as he clenched his paw on the blaster.

"Well, we got nine minutes. Ready when you are," said Falco with a smirk.

The fox pressed the button, opening the door and promptly shooting the single guard that happened to be taking a nap on duty. Falco headed to the security management terminal, scrolling through a list of commands and observing the map blueprint close to the dead guard's mug.

"So… what exactly are we doing here?" asked Fox, shutting the door.

"Basically…" he executed a small command that opened the hangar door and started the always present self-destruction sequence, "...we're getting the hell out of here."


End file.
